NXP fuels the solution
The NXP GreenBox 3 development platform enables vehicle manufacturers to efficiently and rapidly take advantage of these market trends. GreenBox 3 is a versatile platform that combines hardware and software into a full system-level solution for EV real-time application development. Developing on the GreenBox 3 platform, automotive engineers can rapidly create safe and efficient solutions for new vehicle architectures and software-defined vehicles, reducing cost and time to market. Built in a rugged, attractive enclosure with extensive communication interfaces and I/O connectors, GreenBox 3 is also an excellent demonstration system for showcasing innovative automotive applications.
As an example application, GreenBox 3 can act as the central hub of the propulsion domain within the architecture of an electrified vehicle. The technology within the platform performs propulsion domain control and hosts integrated and isolated real-time applications for vehicle dynamics, safety processing and vehicle electrification. GreenBox 3 ensures that all start-stop-steer vehicle functions work together for highly optimized energy use and range extension.
The hardware system solution in GreenBox 3 includes multiple NXP devices that are fine-tuned for development of highly integrated, efficient, software-defined vehicles: S32E288 real-time processor for domain control, energy management and compute-intensive AI/ML applications; SJA1110 TSN Ethernet switch for secure networking; MC33664 transceiver for battery management systems and FS86 SBC and PF5030 PMIC for efficient power management and functional safety. The integration of these powerful hardware devices in one development environment accelerates rapid and efficient creation of innovative automotive solutions.
GreenBox 3’s software solution is the NXP S32Z/E Vehicle Integration Platform called GreenVIP. GreenVIP is an integrated reference software platform that is intended to jump-start development of vehicle real-time applications. GreenVIP streamlines S32Z/E real-time processor hardware evaluation and accelerates software development with hardware abstraction, software integration, visual prototyping tools and ready-to-use 3rd party solutions. The full software ecosystem (hardware drivers, OS, partner software, hypervisor, etc.) is integrated into a single environment, ready for customer application software development. GreenVIP also guides the development engineer in making the best use of the unique and powerful hardware features of the S32Z/E real-time processors.
Under the hood: GreenBox 3 ecosystem
Hardware
GreenBox 3 is a complete NXP hardware system solution for developing real-time automotive solutions. The platform is ideal for development and demonstrations of integrated and isolated real-time applications, such as vehicle dynamics, battery and energy management, motor inverter control and power conversion for central, domain and zonal architectures.
High-performance processing and a variety of peripherals, networking and connectivity interfaces are integrated into GreenBox 3, providing a complete hardware solution for real-time automotive applications.
Here’s a summary of the key NXP components that make up GreenBox 3:
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Real-Time Processor |
Safe and secure high-performance real-time processor with actuation support and 32 MB integrated flash |
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Microcontroller |
General-purpose microcontroller for low power mode emulation |
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Power management |
System basis and power management chips with advanced functional safety |
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Isolation transceiver |
Isolated high-speed network transceiver for BMS |
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Networking |
10-port automotive TSN Ethernet switch |
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Dual high-speed CAN transceiver |
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FlexRay™ node transceiver |
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Quad-LIN commander transceiver |
Software
The GreenVIP software platform works seamlessly with the GreenBox 3 hardware to support rapid prototyping and development of real-time applications. GreenVIP runs on the S32E288 processor and provides a software environment with pre-integrated NXP, open-source and third party software solutions. A hypervisor enables the integration and isolation of multiple operating systems and applications across processor cores and real-time execution units within the S32E288. Multiple RTOS solutions are included: NXP RTOS, FreeRTOS, Zephyr and EB tresos AutoCore. A system manager running within an isolated partition controls system boot and safety functions within the processor. Networking solutions using the S32E288 FlexLLCE engine are provided to improve CAN network performance. GreenVIP also provides visual development tools to monitor and improve processor performance in real-time. This wealth of features allow developers to easily and rapidly develop real-time applications with GreenVIP running on GreenBox 3.
Rapid real-time application development
Real-time applications require deterministic, and typically fast, execution and response times. For example, the applications that control the movement of a vehicle are considered real-time because they demand sensing and actuation performance that is predictable and highly responsive to driver input. The efficiency and functional safety of a vehicle is extremely dependent on the proper operation of real-time applications such as braking, steering, traction motor control and torque control, to name a few.
GreenBox 3, along with the GreenVIP software environment, is perfectly suited for the development of these demanding, real-time vehicle applications.
Propulsion domain control
- S32E288 – safe and secure high-performance real-time processor. Arm Cortex-R52 cores and multiple hardware accelerators enable the integration of multiple applications. A full HEV system controller can be executed within the S32E288.
- Supports multiple, isolated virtual machines with “core-to-pin” hardware isolation
- Enables the transition of independent ECU boxes to virtual ECU tasks running in isolated partitions with a single processor
- Isolation between operating systems and tasks provides freedom from interference, preventing corruption of safety critical tasks
- Inter-Platform Communication Framework (IPCF) for communication between cores
- S32E288 NETC peripheral + SJA1110 Ethernet switch form a time-sensitive network (TSN) for connecting microcontrollers directly to a vehicle Ethernet backbone. Provides deterministic communication for remote sensors and actuators.
- GreenVIP – pulls the full system solution together with ready-to-use hypervisor, isolated virtual machines, RTOS options, real-time drivers, system manager, functional safety and security
Battery management system (BMS)
- S32E288 32-bit floating point vector DSP @ 25 GFLOPS optimized for battery management
- MC33664 isolated, high-speed network transceiver with a dedicated interface for connection to battery cell controllers such as NXP’s MC3377x family
- Easily develop BMS solutions such as cell monitoring, state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH) calculations and remaining useful life (RUL)
Electric motor control
- S32E288 advanced motor control peripherals
- FlexPWM complex timer
- High-bandwidth SAR ADC
- On-chip Generic Timer Module (GTM 4.1)
- Real-time I/O for direct motor control
- Smart actuation for direct motor control
- Dedicated motor control connector for GTM motor control interface
- Dual dedicated motor control connectors compatible with NXP’s motor control development kit
Energy efficiency and range extension
- S32E288 32-bit floating point vector DSP @ 25 GFLOPS MBDT
- Advanced predictive algorithms
- Model predictive control (e.g., Navier-Stokes)
- Neural net/linear algebra
- NXP Model-based Design Toolbox (MBDT) for MATLAB and Simulink
- Develop hard real-time and math-intensive compute solutions for managing safe vehicle start-stop-steer dynamics while maximizing energy efficiency and vehicle range
- Energy management based on model predictive control
- Torque prediction
- Trip management
- Predictive maintenance
Power conversion
- S32E288 advanced peripherals
- eMIOS timer for high resolution PWM
- High bandwidth SAR ADC
- S32 Design Studio with low-level RTD peripheral drivers
- Automotive Math and Motor Control Library (AMMCLIB), pre-compiled software library for math applications
- Develop applications such as on-board charging (OBC) and DC-DC conversion
See GreenBox 3 in action
See GreenBox 3 in person, running GreenVIP software and demonstrating the massive compute performance and fault isolation capability of the S32E288 real-time processor at the upcoming NXP Tech Days Detroit, October 18-19.